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12/4/08

Once again thanks to all that entered. Thanks to Raptorman.ca for providing the prize. Congratulations to our 3 finalists. As it was stated in the rules I will be allowing the readers to vote for a winner. Along with my vote and a third vote will be made by a third independent party. The winner will be contacted sometime on Saturday with details on how to claim your ticket. Good Luck to our 3 finalists. The winner should be the best fan of the Raptors and the Dino Nation Blog as contest stated. So with that here are the 3 finalists.

Entry #1- Brett L

I distinctively remember seeing that huge Raptor Mascot in the back of the court in the Skydome (no one like to call it Rogers Centre so stop trying to change the name Ted) when I first saw the Raptors. To me, this was the highlight of the game. I was 6. It was the Raptors first of many sold out games against MJ and the Bulls. That huge Raptor did it for me. That along with the fact that I was sitting up close and personal with the best player to ever grace a NBA court. My love for the Raptors has grown exponentially since that day. I think it was potentially, errr perhaps, ahh PROBABLY the acquisitions of Dee Brown and Dell Curry that set my heart in Raptorland. I, like every other little kid, loved the three ball and there were my two heroes raining threes for Mcdonalds charity like it was going out of style (Can hear it now... "DEE FOR THREEEEE BA DA BA BA BA..IM LOVING IT...). I have a huge passion for the game and watch every Raptor game I can (barring me having an exam. If not my eyes are fixated on the tele). The Raptors are the first team that I ever grew up loving, and will always cherish for being in my hometown. What sets me apart from any other Raptor fan in winning this competition? Not much. We Raptor fans stick together and are very similar. We know we want a winning franchise and we all seem to know exactly how to build one (Gerald Wallace?). We all would put our lives in Colangelo's hands because we have that much faith in him. We all would bleed purple and red if given the choice of what colour our blood could be. We all unite in Dino Nation and cheer collectively because we are the best fans in the NBA. I cannot possibly differentiate myself from the other hardcore Raptor fans, that would be way too hard. What I can do is put my name into the pot and try to give you a whole night of insightful commentary and chatter while watching TJ Ford run circles around us. Now that would be bad. Thanks for this opportunity James!

Entry #2 Jonathon G

I have been a Raptor fan since day 1. I remember Zeke being named GM and thinking "this is it! We are legit!" I was so disappointed when BJ Armstrong dissed us, and yes, I booed when we pick Damon over Ed O'Bannon. But I was there opening night in the 'Dome vs. Jersey and he made me a believer. I remember the big win over the Bulls in '97.

Probably the highlight of the year. I fondly remember the tough guy years with Oak and Willis. Even named the family dog Oakley.

I feel lucky to have seen Alvin in his prime and Muggsy suit up in T.O.

Chauncey, too for around 15 games. We've had class guys like Doug Christie and MoPete. And the Thin Towers. Vin-Sanity was both an incredible high an incredible low. And now, we have a true world-class player who is still developing and maturing in CB4. We as fans should feel lucky to witness what he brings to the floor every game.

The Air Canada Centre opened its doors on my 19th birthday. I was there, 2nd last row in the Sprite Zone. Unfortunately, I have only been back once since. Like many of you, trying to earn a living, basketball tickets unfortunately do not fit the budget. I would love to sit side by side with the Dino Blogger and see The Little Engine That Could match up head-to-head with Numero Ocho and know we made the right move.

I sit at work and hear all the suits talking about taking their kids or clients to a game, and after missing half the first, they leave in the third. I think my desk has an imprint from me banging my head on it. Please, I have suffered enough concussions playing ball, I don't think I need anymore. Help me save my brain.

Entry #3 - Maurice W

In my younger days I spent many years playing and watching basketball. Although my knees have many kilometres on them it has been some time since I have played, it was time to hang up the laces. I now resort my passion to the sport by simply watching and teaching the young my knowledge.My basketball experience not only was taught by good coaches but digesting games in the late 70's on tv and the advantage of living in a city close to Buffalo to see live games. Watching the likes of Bob McAdoo , John Shumate, Randy Smith and Ernie D facilitated a better understanding of the game. From a fan perspective it was all we had in southern Ontario at the time.Eventually Buffalo made their way to San Diego and Toronto was left with NBA exhibition games and Toronto Tornadoes(cba). Having to resort to a cba team (which folded after 1r and half) and odd games on tv , increased the demand of a team in Toronto. Forward to 1995 and finally an NBA team to conquer Toronto. After many years of rumours, a Canadian team arrived and my dream finally came true.I spent many years following Julius Erving and the Sixers and of course MJ thereafter. However, having a team you can call your own changed everything. Win or lose I have followed this team from day one. The Raptors still have many ups and downs but to spend several years watching other cities' teams , it simply can't match how blessed we are to have team of our own.My passion for the Raps and the organization exceeds their abilities at times, simply because of the many years of anticipation.We have seen many changes through out the years and I will continue to support change necessary to improve our team but true fans always believe, no different than believing the Raps would eventually arrive here.

The organization for the most part provides great entertainment, charitable to the community, and influential to younger ballers strivng to hopefully someday live their dreams. We should also be thankful for the exposure the raptors have created across our beautiful country Canada.

In conclusion thank you Raptors ,John Bitove, and MLSE for fulfulling many Fan's dreams. With so many supporters one day we will see the ultimate dream, an NBA championship banner. Dino Nation Blog helps me feed in my passion for that dream.

Good Luck to all 3 Finalists and please everyone else show them support by voting for who you feel should win.

Is it morally right to vote for myself? It's a really cool mix of fans - Brett younger, me in the middle and Maurice kicking it old school. Good job you two!

Maurice, I am a big fan of hoops history. I wish I could have seen Dr. J or McAdoo play. I have to admit, I was a Jazz fan before Toronto had a team. Seeing Pistol Pete live would have been amazing. Being a point guard, I've always loved watching the greats like Cousy, Stockton, Big O, Tiny, Zeke.... I think we'd have a lot to talk about!!!Jon

Brack Obama voted for himself so I guess it is ok. Also there are two other elements that get a vote beyond the readers. Seeing as I am one of those votes I don't want to say anything beyond I was happy with the level of entries we got from all 3 finalists and wish them all the best of luck.

gotta give this one to brett. guy seems like he genuinely would bleed purple and red if he could and that is what i would call a die hard. hopefully he can one day suit up for the raps and play with the passion that has been sorely lacking in the first 17 games of the season.

I don't want to get into numbers. I will just say that I am happy at the end of it we were able to have 3 great finalists. By saying how many folks entered I would not want to encourage or discourage people from entering any future contests we may have for the blog.

I hope you understand my reason for not answering you question. I do not ever get into the number of readers of the blog as well. I do this because I feel it could come off as bragging if people thought the number was large or the opposite.

This is the first time I have done something like this and am happy it has worked out successfully and we will have a deserving winner.

Okay, I've read through all three posts and as they all are written well, I feel that I would have to place my vote for Maurice W.

The passion and true basketball fan that he is, is truly amazing. He has brought us back to the true days of basketball. Dr. J would have been amazing to watch. I wish that I could've had that experience, however I will live vicariously through you...

You are a die-hard ball fan and I bet your favorite colours are black and red. (home and alternative)

Hope that you win Maurice because they would be fools not to pick you as the winner.... Good luck.

Responding to previous posts, Brett's comment on Purple and Red makes sense. To me anyways he is referencing old school Raptors as opposed to the new modern Raptors. I voted for Brettt based on his personality, love for the game, and honesty. As for the person who posted above me, voting is on the right of the page, near the top.

after reading through these selections I am going to vote for Brett..he has a great idea of what it is to be a Raptor fan. I see some people posting about his comments, specifically red and purple. That shows me he knows his raptors from way back when and didnt jump on the train recently.

Good work by all, but Bretts intrigued me the most. It was by far the most colourful and animated.

All of the posts are written well, however to comment to anonymous a couple of posts above....purple and red???? original raps uni's from back in the day were actually white with purple lines and a huge dino on it in red.... not purple and red...

I like the way that Moe articulated his words...

What's up with the cheater comment??? I don't get that on here??? You calling someone on here a cheater or do u feel guilty about it yourself....Hmmmm... makes me wonder!!!

Ok the way this contest by design was set up you can not cheat. Even if someone wins the fan/reader vote. They have not won anything other than 1 vote out of 3. It will take my vote or the other judge to make them a winner. So no one is cheating with anything.

I just wanted to say for any of you that are new to the blog because of the contest voting I hope you will come back and visit to read the the blog itself. That is a small part of why you do something like this. But at the core it was to do something nice for a loyal reader and we had 3 good options for this contest.

Ouch. I never considered myself a 'wannabee jock' I've always played the game out of the love for it and have coached many youth teams and camps. As for a bandwagon jumper? I guess there the true fans were cheering on Toronto before they drafted BJ, or when Buffalo had a CBA team. Less Hating.This has been fun!!Jon

As a member of Jon's family I can say the love for the game comes naturally, right from the time his grandfather played for the armed forces team in 1943 when they used PEACH baskets for nets all of the members in his immedtiate family play, coach or ref. the comment about a wanna be is way off

Maurice, you should have won. Kickin' it old school...I enjoy! But I think Brett won most of the younger viewers over. My vote went to Brent only because he was the fore runner in the competition. Congrats Brett on the victory. A true Raptor/Basketball fan would never look for the pity vote because they know that pity doesn't win you championships and whinning like Vince gets you TRADED!!!! Some people think they are owed the chance to sit in the front row, while others feel blessed. You are only owed what you deserve. Believe in Karma...sometimes she can be a bitch! Congrats Brett!

All 3 finalists did a great job. If I had 4 tickets to give away I would have. Also this are tickets are not in the front row they are tickets in the 300 level. But still that is not the point. I would have been happy if any of the 3 finalist won. I was happy to see both people that did not win congratulated Brett. That is class, just like Sam Mitchell showed when he was fired. Hopefully will have more contests in the future and the people that did not win are welcome to enter those if and when thay happen.

Thank you to both James and Raptorman for putting up the prize. This was a lot of fun, and provided my very small office some excitement on a slow friday. Maurice, can I refer to you as 'The Gangster of Love'???Jon

To Contact The Dino Nation Blog

If you ever have a question or concern or request. You can always contact the Dino Nation Blog @t Dinoblogger@gmail.com

I am always willing to talk with folks for interviews etc. I currently am doing 2 regular radio appearances weekly. But I am always willing to do more stuff large or small. Whatever it is you would like to discuss I will be happy to reply.